Karma & Rebirth in Hindu Astrology

sells shoes and maintains his family on the income so earned. These
mercenary astrologers could never have fathomed the spiritual depths
of astrology as my yogi jyotish guru could.
In the west, particularly the USA which I have visited five times
by now (1997), each time for six weeks, stayed with American
families, interacted intimately with thousands of Americans, I found
that some of them were very fine spiritual practitioners and
understood the essence of sadhana very well. But they live in difficult
materialistic society which is highly permissive.
Many of them visit India also very frequently, meet yogis, saints,
go to pilgrimages and end up by developing more business links than
spiritual ones. That is a typical American attitude to spirituality. This
group which has been aware of the spiritual tradition of India gets
interested in Hindu astrology which it describes as Vedic astrology to
cast off whatever sectarian bias the word Hindu could have had. But
there is no Vedic astrology for predictive purposes. The American
coinage is what I myself wrongly accepted for sometime. "Vedic
astrology" is the product of immature understanding of the astrological
tradition of India, and a good marketable product. Through some of
the Vedic astrologers of the USA, I came to know many who were
interested in the sadhanas of India. Some of them are fine human
beings.
Neither the mercenary astrologers of India nor Vedic
astrologers of USA can ever understand that astrology is meant to
become a spiritual discipline, the finest method of developing dharana
or one pointed concentration leading to deepest meditation.
To argue with them that astrology done with mercenary mohe
is invitation to greater meshes of karma is fruitless because they are
not spiritually sensitive.
The most confusing part of the American thought is that one
could be highly spiritual and also have sex life as one wished without
any restriction and without anx inhibition. What they do liot know is
that it is not spiritual life but vi karma combined with what they imagine
is spiritual life. I was doing an astrological reading for an American
woman in a religious place in USA. She admitted, when I asked, that
she had abnormal sexual life. She told me something and persisted
with her questions about a great spiritual life. In another place, a
homosexual who tortured his wife by n'iglecting her told me that he
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 Kormo & Rebirth in HinduAstrolo9Y

would write a book on great spiritual experiences with Kundaliniwhich

healone in the world had. In such a 'culture' even spirituality can
.!:>ecome a saleable commodity. And it already has become so. They
in the USA know marketing as none in the world knows.
I found most of those, keenly interested in spiritual life, not
knowing the importance of karma leading to akarma which alone is
the foundation of true spiritual life. Asia and Asia alone, knows and
maintains, the tradition of combining spirituality with poverly. In the
USA they would abhor such an idea itself.
The most civilising and the only forces uplifting man have been
religions. They have also been the sources of conflict. The higher and
sublimer forces have been spiritual practices all of which have come
only from Asia. All civilising influences have come from east of Suez
Canal. I found many Americans talking about it and saying it is tlJe
sadhana given by the two Indian religions, Hinduism and Buddhism,
that have attracted them.
An astrologer can see spells of vi karma very clearly which
some Americans mistook for spiritual life. Some of the younger
persons, particularly the males I have met, talked of the importance
of pure celibate life for sadhana as keenly as Indians do. But they
crashland into relationships very fast.
Then, there is the materialistic culture's ego that man makes
his own destiny. It is for this reason that even one or two Vedic
ostrologers of USA who can predict events prefer not to do it. If others
do not predict events it is because they have not learnt iyofisha at
all but only its iargon. Instead, they concentrate on psychological
readings like the western astrologer. May be, they realize, knowing
their country and countrymen better, that itwould not be well received.
Yet, sooner or later, they will have to concentrate on the predictive
aspects,
One nation hoting the other or one nation posing to be superior
is not unknown in international politics. The arrogance of a super-
power which USA is, gets refleded in some of the noticeable non-
spiritual attitude of Americans which an astrologer cannot afford to
miss. Lack of honesty in money matters, and the mercenary habit of
charging from every guest, together with the unholy attitudes of
permissive societies, has made the West, particularly the USA, totally
non-spiritual. But India with her spiritual culture must became a target
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